Speak With Your Heart
by YuriFan300
Summary: Some people like Nana can understand Rise's soft quiet voice. But the question is: why does Rise talk like that? Contains some violence and bullying.
1. Rise, the Quiet Girl

**Speak With Your Heart**

**Pairing: Rise x Nana**

**Genre: Romance & Hurt/Comfort**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yuru Yuri or any of its characters.**

**Author's Note: Hey, there! This is my very first Rise x Nana fanfic. I tried looking up stories with Rise in it and it seems that there's none, so I decided to create one myself! Well, maybe I didn't check correctly, but maybe some people did add Rise to their stories, but I can't be sure. Also, I figured that Rise and Nana seem to be in a relationship, so that's why I chose that pairing. It's going to be a little difficult to describe Rise's way of speaking, so maybe that's why some people rarely write stories about her. Or maybe she really _does _have a lack of presence. Hehe! Anyway, please, enjoy the story! ;)**

One morning in Nanamori Middle School, there is a girl with long black hair with big red eyes entering the school doors. Rise Matsumoto looks around for a bit before proceeding to her first class. She is the current Student Council President and is often aided by Ayano Sugiura and Chitose Ikeda. But, the one who is closest to Rise is none other than Nana Nishigaki. Other than being Nana's test subject, Rise considers her a close friend. Nana always has an opportunity to talk with her and Rise enjoys that. But why does she only enjoy her time with Nana? Well, the reason being is that very few people can understand Rise's quiet voice. To some people, they think that Rise is just mute and is hard to communicate with. For Nana, she can somehow understand Rise's quiet voice, in which Rise is still trying to figure out why. Whenever some people don't understand what Rise is trying to say, Nana is always there to "translate". But the problem is, when she's alone, Rise has a hard time making other friends. Sure she gets along with the Amusement Club and other members of the Student Council, but the other girls just won't accept her.

Like right now, just as Rise is about to walk in the classroom, a hand suddenly grabs her by the shoulder and is shoved against the lockers. Rise winces at the sudden action and looks up to see a trio of girls standing over her. One with long blonde hair tied in a pony tail leans over to Rise's level and smirks.

"Where do you think you're going, Matsumoto?" she asks.

Rise just whispers her words.

"What? Speak up, I can't hear you," a red haired girl says, putting her hand over her ear.

"Yeah, can you speak a little louder, won't you, Matsumoto?" a gray haired girl says.

Rise whispers her words again, in the same exact volume, which aggravates the blonde girl.

"Whatever," she says as she knocks the books off Rise's hands. "If she's not gonna talk, then we'll just have to force her to."

Rise whispers again, but is slapped by the blonde girl.

"Do you really talk or are you just freaking mute?" she grabs her by the shirt of her uniform. "Maybe you just move your mouth so that you can trick others to think they can understand a single darn word you're saying. Well, it's working!" She throws Rise against the lockers, making a loud banging sound from the metal.

The red haired girl kicks the small raven-haired girl to the floor. "You just stay there, witch. We're not quite finished with you yet."

Rise looks up and whispers again.

"What's that? I don't believe I can understand a freaking word you're saying!" the blonde girl kicks Rise again, this time in the stomach, knocking the air out of her for a second.

"Haha!" the gray haired girl laughs. "That's it! Kick her until she really speaks up!"

"With pleasure," the blonde girl says as she kicks Rise hard in the face, then arm, then leg. All little Rise could do is curl up, trying to protect herself from this horrible beating when all of a sudden . . .

"Hey!" a deep voice calls from the hall. "What do you think you girls are doing?"

Rise weakly looks up as she notices Nana walking towards the girls. She scolds them for beating on a student and got sent to the principle's office right away. Once that's done, Nana rushes to Rise's aid.

"Are you alright, Matsumoto?" she asks, her eyes full of worry. She could see some minor blood on Rise's cheek and bruises on her arm and leg from where she was kicked.

Rise just nods and whispers to her about what happened.

"I see. So the girls were at it again, huh? Well, you don't have to worry. They are at the principle's office right now. Do you want to go to the nurse's office or . . ." Before Nana could finish, Rise just wraps her arms around her closest friend, burying her head in her chest. Nana is surprised to see her do that, but just smiles and strokes her head.

"It's okay," she says softly. "I'm here. Don't worry."

Rise just nods her head while still having her head buried in Nana's chest. She desperately wanted to stay like this for a little longer if it weren't for the warning bell. With that, Nana helps Rise up, takes her to the nurse's office to treat her wounds and is given an unexcused pass to get to her class. As Rise whispers a "thank you" she leaves the nurse's office with Nana staring at her worriedly. She is glad that she saved Rise in time, but is afraid about the trio of girls showing up again. Nana decides to ask Rise to have lunch with her today, just to be on the safe side so that she won't have to deal with them.

* * *

><p>Time passes by fast and finally, lunch arrives. Rise had just bought her lunch and looks around for a place to sit. There's hardly an available table, let alone having to find some people to talk to. Looking down at her food, she only has a cheese sandwich and a bottle of water to drink. Unfortunately, some girls run into her, making her stumble and letting go of her tray. They don't even bother to apologize as they continue running towards a random table. Rise then looks over at her sandwich, which had been squished by one of the girls. Her expression shows neither irritation nor anger as she stands up and slowly cleans up the mess. She throws away the squished sandwich and holds the water bottle in her hand. Looking down at the ground, she decides to just leave the cafeteria, hungry for the rest of the period.<p>

However, just as she is about to leave, she notices Ayano and Chitose walking by. Chitose looks up and smiles.

"Oh, Rise-chan!" the silver haired girl says as she walks toward the raven-haired one. "It's so nice to see you!"

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" Ayano asks.

Rise whispers.

"Uh . . ." Ayano looks around for Nana, but couldn't find her. Most of the time Ayano has a hard time understanding herself, but is still accepting her personality, unlike the trio of girls Rise had encountered earlier.

"I bet she's saying that she's just getting lunch when she got bumped by some girls and got her sandwich squished," Chitose explains.

Rise nods.

"I see," Ayano says. "Well, do you want to eat with us? We can go to the Student Council room if you want."

Rise just looks down at the floor for a bit and whispers again.

"Oh! You're just waiting for Nishigaki-sensei?" Chitose asks. "We'll wait for her with you."

"Yes," Ayano agrees. "We still got some time."

After about a few minutes, Rise notices Nana coming towards the cafeteria with her own bag of lunch.

"Hey, there," she says as she notices Ayano and Chitose. "Wow, looks like you've already got company."

Rise whispers.

"Oh, I see. Your lunch was ruined and have nothing else to eat when Sugiura-san and Ikeda-san came along." Nana happily holds up her bag lunch. "Don't worry. I have just enough food to share with you."

"And we can, too," Chitose says, smiling at the raven-haired girl.

Rise nods and gives everyone a hug as a thank you. She couldn't have been more grateful than ever. She truly has friends that can support her and be there for her, especially Nana. With that in mind, the four make their way to the student council room to enjoy a wonderful lunch together.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright. First chapter done, everyone! And I gotta say: when I looked up Rise, I found out that she has a voice actress and so when I first saw her, I kind of expected her to speak. But instead, it seemed like she has no voice at all. So, what's with that? Though, despite all that, I think Rise is super cute. Anyway, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns.**


	2. Love Builds Up

**Chapter 2**

**Love Builds Up**

That afternoon, Rise is sorting out some documents along with Ayano and Chitose assisting her in the Student Council room. While sorting them out, an image of Nana pops in Rise's head. She blushes at the thought of her closest friend, but quickly shakes it off. It's not her duty as Student Council President to think about that kind of stuff while at work. She puts away the last stack of papers into the pile to the side while Ayano and Chitose do the same. In about 15 minutes, they had sorted out all the documents.

"Well, that was quick," Chitose says, examining the huge pile of papers. "Look at what we've accomplished. Too bad Furutani-san and Ohmuro-san aren't here. They had something to do so we're the only ones who needed to do this."

"Indeed," Ayano says as she turns to Rise. "President, we're gonna bring some of the documents over to the office. Do you want to come with us?"

Rise whispers.

"Um . . ."

"She just wants to stay here to see if there's anything else to work on," Chitose says. "Besides, someone has to watch over the student council office."

"You're right," Ayano says. "I hope you're okay once we're gone."

Rise whispers again.

"She says not to worry," Chitose says.

"Alright," Ayano says. "We'll back in a minute, President."

Rise waves as the two leave the room. When the door closes, Rise looks around for anything that's on the floor to clean up. She notices candy wrappers and ice cream lids on the floor, so she picks those up and looks around for some more. She sees one that's rectangular next to the desk and picks it up. While gazing at it, she begins to blush deeply as she realizes that it's a photo of Nana and her in the science room together. It was taken after school on the first day. Rise had secretly kept it in the desk in a folder full of papers so that no one would look at it. She was glad that no one noticed it right now since she had so much stuff to organize. As she is putting away the photo, she hears a knock on the door.

"Is anyone there?" Nana's voice says.

Rise blushes at hearing her voice and quickly rushes in to open the door.

"Hello, there," Nana says. "Why are you by yourself today? Where are the others?"

Rise whispers to her the situation.

"Ah, I see. So they'll be back in a minute. Well, since I'm here, I just want to let you know that you should meet me in the science room after this. It's time for another experiment that I want to test out."

Rise nods as Nana takes her leave. Blushing, she closes the door and puts her hands on her chest. She can feel her heart beating from seeing Nana like that and then being asked to be her test subject again. Considering the fact that she is Nana's "Explosive Friend" it's hard to believe that Rise and Nana would survive every explosion Nana has caused for the past year. Most students would believe that they would be dead once they come in direct contact with an explosion, but that's not the case. What the others don't know is that they are really aware of every explosion that's coming their way since they've been doing it together all the time. They would step out of the way far enough to not get hit by the explosion, usually resulting them being covered in ashes, followed by the rest of the room. And they would work together cleaning up the ashes after the principle scolds Nana every time she tests out an experiment that could result an explosion. Rise doesn't mind it at all as long as she is with her closest friend.

As Rise sits back at her desk, the door opens and Ayano and Chitose comes in.

"Hello, President," Ayano says. "Anything happen while we were gone?"

Rise whispers to them about Nana.

"Nishigaki-sensei wants you in the science room after this?" Chitose asks.

Rise nods.

"Alright," Ayano says, smiling. "I think we can take it from here. You can go early if you want."

"Yeah, we can take care of it," Chitose adds.

Rise nods again and takes her leave. After the door closes, Ayano looks at Chitose.

"Will she be okay going by herself?" Ayano asks.

"She'll be fine," Chitose assures her. "After all, she knows where to go and most people have left the school already."

"That's true," Ayano says. "Now then, let's get to work, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Down the halls, Rise makes it to the science room and opens the door. Nana looks up and smiles.<p>

"Hey, glad you could make it," she says as she gets up from her desk and leads her to a bunch of liquids on the lab table. "Here's what we're doing today. Just a simple chemical combination."

Rise whispers Nana a question.

"You're wondering why I'm doing this? Well, there's this one time where I had to combine some chemicals to test out different reactions. Yes, I know it's a bit too ordinary, but I've come up with a new formula for this experiment. You ready?"

Rise glances at the ground nervously and whispers.

"Aw, don't worry. We practically do this all the time. Hey, maybe we can finally do something without having it explode this time, right?"

Rise raises an eyebrow, as if she's not convinced by Nana's assurance. But then, she shrugs and decides to do it anyway. What harm can it do anyway?

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Ayano and Chitose exit the student council room and lock the door. They had finished cleaning out the rest of the room and is now going home.<p>

"Whew!" Chitose says. "That took a while, but I think we finally got the room organized."

"We haven't cleaned this room in a while, though," Ayano points out, feeling a little exhausted. "But despite all that, I think we did a great job."

"Mm-hmm. Oh, let's see how the president is doing."

"Eh? I don't want to bother them."

"Yes, but they always have something going on where everything explodes every time we are about to enter."

_BOOM!_

"Like right now," Chitose says, jumping back in surpise with Ayano shaking in fear.

Both of them quickly enter the science room and find Rise on the floor while Nana is coughing from the huge amount of smoke.

"President! Sensei!" Ayano cries. "What the heck did you do this time!?"

"I just wanted to try something new with these chemicals, but . . . it didn't turn out too good." Nana walks over to Rise and turns her over. "Matsumoto, are you alright?"

Rise opens her eyes and notices that the woman is holding her in her arms. She blushes and nods.

"I'm glad," Nana helps the little raven-haired girl up and looks around the room. "Looks like we have to do a lot of cleaning again."

Ayano sighs heavily. "Geez, you two need to try something that's not so . . . explosive."

"I can't help it," Nana says, laughing nervously.

"Here, let us help," Chitose offers. "Right, Ayano-chan?"

Ayano sighs heavily again. "I guess I have to." She was exhausted from cleaning the student council room, but still has some energy left to help out Rise and Nana.

All four of them get to work, wiping up all the ashes and putting back the knocked down chairs and desks. After about 30 minutes, the room is finally clean and the four are now sitting down, relaxing. Ayano takes a look at Rise, who is staring blankly at Nana. Now, for Ayano, it might be a little private for even Rise to even talk about, but something's been on her mind since she's been with Rise at the student council. And probably wondering why Rise is so used to being alone, except maybe spending a lot of her time with Nana.

Feeling the need to pop the question, Ayano says, "H-hey, President?"

Rise turns to Ayano.

"Um, I know it's sort of private for you and you don't have to talk about it if you don't feel like it," the purple haired girl says nervously. "But, um . . . I was wondering from the beginning: why do you speak in such a low voice?"

Rise just looks down at the floor, not showing any emotion at all.

"Ayano-chan, I don't think the president wants to talk about it," Chitose says. "Probably mentioning it made her feel sad in some way."

"I know," Ayano sighs for the third time.

Rise whispers to Ayano.

"Matsumoto would rather keep this confidential for a bit longer. She doesn't think you two would understand." Nana says.

"Oh, don't say that," Chitose says. "We'll understand. We are just curious, that's all."

Rise shakes her head and whispers.

"Matsumoto says that she'll think about it," Nana says. "Right now, let's just drop the subject and get ready to go home."

"Okay," Ayano says as she picks up her bag and is about to leave the door when she notices Chitose stopping and turning back.

"I hope the president is okay," the short silver haired girl says, having a worried look on her face.

"She'll be fine." Nana assures her. "You two run along while we lock up the room."

The two girls nod and close the door. Nana stands up, picks up her bag and beckons Rise to follow her. Rise trots next to her friend and the two close the door, lock it and exit the school. While outside, the sun is already setting. Nana looks up at the orange sky and smiles.

"Ah, what a beautiful sky," she says. "Why can't it be like this every day?" She suddenly feels a tug on her lab coat and looks down to notice Rise looking down at the ground while whispering.

"Of course you can stay with me. You have nowhere else to go right?"

Rise nods and wraps her arms around Nana. This time, she didn't want to let go at all and wants to stay like this.

"Matsumoto? Is something the matter?"

Rise blushes as she whispers nervously. This causes Nana to slightly blush as well.

"U-um, well, of course I like you. I mean, we've been together for a long time. We had shared everything together, the good and bad times. And it seems that you only wanted to spend time with me than everyone else. Now, I can understand why, but when are you going to tell them? It's not good to keep all of it inside forever."

Rise frowns as she whispers again.

"I'm sure they'll understand. They won't make fun of you. The Amusement Club and the Student Council know you and care about you, even though you barely show up." Nana wraps her arms around her little friend. "You decide what's best for you, Matsumoto. It might be hard for you, but you have to tell them somehow. I'll definitely be there for you if you get nervous."

Rise nods as she buries her head in Nana's chest. She feels that Nana is the only person who can understand her feelings more than anyone else. In fact, whenever she's around Nana, Rise's heart starts to beat rapidly and makes her blush. For a while, Rise didn't know what it was until she realized that all of it was love. For her, Rise didn't want anyone to know that she's in love with someone older than her nor telling them about her painful past. But like Nana said, Rise has to find the right time to tell them and hope that everyone will accept her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Whew! Second chapter done! Well . . . this is gonna be a little difficult once I write some more chapters, but it will come to me soon. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter so far. And thanks Josephine231 for being the first to review the last chapter. :) Now, I may need some help on coming up with something about Rise's past and putting in the bullies again, if that's possible. I don't know. My mind is a bit fuzzy right now. So, if you have any suggestions about those two things, I would really appreciate it. I feel putting in Rise's past too early is a little too soon. :D**

**Oh, and maybe all of you are wondering, I had changed the title. "Speak Your Mind" doesn't seem to make any sense at all, so I feel that "Speak With Your Heart" is better. **

**Anyway, feel free to give out any other suggestions, questions, or concerns and don't forget to review. ;)**


	3. A New Way to Communicate

**Chapter 3**

**A New Way to Communicate**

**Bold = Rise's Notes**

Rise and Nana walk together on the path to the school. For some reason, Rise is clinging onto Nana's arm, which is kind of strange on Nana's part. But as she looks down at the small raven-haired girl, Nana just smiles. Rise looks up at her friend with her expression remaining unchanged.

"You know, you're just so adorable sometimes," Nana jokes. "Don't you think?"

Rise whispers.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Nana laughs. "I didn't mean it like that. I just thought you have such a cute face, that's all."

Risa looks down at the ground, blushing.

"Well, anyway, putting that aside, I won't be able to see you after school today. I have a meeting to go to. Are you okay with that?"

Rise nods and whispers.

"Okay," Nana says as she looks at her friend in worry. "Where will you go? I mean, you're parents just have nothing to do with you anymore, right? Because of . . . you know . . ."

Rise nods again and whispers in determination.

"I understand. It's your choice to live on your own after all." Nana clears her throat. "A-anyway, let's let it go for now. We have to get to school."

Rise just looks down at the ground. The mentioning of her parents made her feel sad and not want to think about them for a while. Nana knew that for sure and is ashamed of her mistake. Looking down at her friend, Nana could clearly see the expression on Rise's face, even if it's not showing. The two soon arrive at the school, watching the other girls enter the building. Nana turns to Rise.

"Okay, I have to go," she says. "Are you sure you are okay on your own?"

Rise whispers.

"Alright. You're not a little kid anyway, so of course you're gonna be okay." Nana turns to leave. "Well, see you later."

Rise waves as Nana makes her way to the building. Rise then slowly lowers her hand and just stares at the other girls entering the building. She wishes Nana didn't have this meeting and would just rather spend time with her closest friend. But for her, she knows that she can't have that all the time. Nana would sometimes have some meetings to go to, which means that she'll have to go to her house, where she just lives on her own. She doesn't mind at all because she wants to be alone, where no one would harm her or have anyone ask her to speak louder because of her condition. She wanted to be cured. She desperately wanted to, but nothing ever worked. Until then, Rise had lived with this whisper-like voice. However, she would like to forget all of it and wanted to start a new life, living on her own and managed to become Student Council President. She had no idea how she got nominated in the first place, but somehow she did.

Right now, Rise has some other matters to deal with. When she steps into the classroom, she gets out her materials for the lesson. She looks up and sees the same trio of girls that she had encountered yesterday. Rise just ignores them as she gets out her notebook to take her notes.

"Look at her," the blonde girl says. "Being as lifeless as ever."

"I wonder if she'll ever speak," the gray haired girl says.

"She probably won't," the red haired girl says. "She chooses not to speak, that's what her probable is."

"Well, let's show her that being mute isn't an option," the blonde girl says.

"Yeah."

Rise looks up as the three girls approach her.

"Listen, Matsumoto," the blonde girl says. "I want you to introduce yourself once we do our introduction. And you _better _speak up when you say your name, got it?"

Rise just nods.

"Great," the blond girl says. "My name is Suki Kawasaki."

"I'm Akira Watsuki," the red haired girl says.

"And my name's Riri Satsuki," the gray haired girl says.

"So . . ." Suki says. "What's your name?"

Rise takes a couple of breathes and just whispers her name. This just makes Suki's patience level go down really fast.

"Okay, fine" the blonde girl growls, clenching her fists in anger. "If you can't speak up, then we'll just have to force you to."

She knocks down the desk, grabs Rise by the shoulders and throws her down on the floor. Rise slowly looks up with her expression remaining the same. Suki glares at the raven-haired girl.

"What the heck are you staring at?" She kicks Rise hard, making her fall further on the floor. "Speak, you witch!" She kicks Rise again. "SPEAK!" Rise curls up to defend herself, but no avail. The other girls start kicking her from all sides.

"Come on, Matsumoto!" Riri yells. "You can't be like this forever!"

"Yeah, tell us to stop, why don't ya!?" Akira says as she strikes Rise hard on the chest.

Suki makes her last strike super hard on the guts, causing Rise's air to get knocked out for a second. Looking up, Rise stares at Suki who is leaning down to her level, glaring at her.

"Alright," she huffs. "If you don't want to speak, then so be it. No one ever wants you around because you can't speak. You can't even call for help. What a useless human being."

Rise sits up, not having the slightest irritation nor sad expression.

"Don't look at me like that!" Suki kicks her again. She turns to her two girls. "Let's go. Class is about to start."

"Yeah, leave her there," Akira says. "She's totally useless, even in class."

"I really wonder if she gets any good grades when she's like that," Riri says.

The three girls walk away, leaving Rise on the floor, hurt. She can't live like this when those girls are onto her. Though, Suki does have a point when she's beating her up. Rise cannot ever call for help if she has a whisper-like voice. She'll have to ask the members of the student council for some ideas. But first, she'll have to deal with those wounds.

* * *

><p>At the student council, Rise had called all the members for an important meeting.<p>

"So, what's this about?" Ayano asks.

"I think the president as something important to tell us," Chitose says.

Rise whispers the situation that happened this morning.

"Oh, I see," Chitose says. "You want to find a way to communicate better with people because of your condition."

Rise nods.

"Well, let's do something simple," Ayano says as she takes out a small notebook. "Whenever people have laryngitis, they used to write things down to communicate."

"Yes, but we'll need something bigger than that," Chitose says.

"How about a whiteboard?" Himawari says, holding up a square whiteboard.

"That's a great idea!" Chitose beams. "Thank you, Furutani-san!"

Sakurako looks at her, raising an eyebrow. "That's all you got? A whiteboard?"

"Got any better ideas?" Himawari asks.

Sakurako holds up her phone. "Text the teacher!"

"No," Himawari protests. "Remember, the teacher forbids having texting on our cellphones, remember?"

"Aw, man!" Sakurako groans.

Rise gently takes the board and grabs a dry erase marker. She writes, **"How's this?"**

"Excellent!" Chitose says, happily. "Now you'll get a chance to communicate with everybody!"

"Well . . . most people," Ayano says, nervously.

"Anyway, good luck with your new tool," Chitose says. "I hope this will help you get along with other people."

Rise looks down at the floor, unsure about what the other girls might react. But if Chitose is confident about her new tool, so will she. So, Rise writes **"Thank you, Ikeda-san and everyone else for supporting me".**

"You're welcome!" Chitose says, giving her a thumbs up.

* * *

><p>Back at Rise's home, the raven-haired girl stares at the whiteboard while sitting on her bed that night. Will she be able to interact with other people with just using a whiteboard? How will everyone else think? Rise keeps asking herself this as she just scribbles on the board, not sure of what to do. She knows she must try new things just to see if she likes it or not. And if this whiteboard will change things, then she will definitely do it. There's no going back now.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hello. I know this is a little rushed, but I'm just too lazy to write any more. So, here's the third chapter, everyone. And, I felt I should give out a few hints of Rise's past without spoiling all of you. But if it is, I apologize.**

**Feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)**


	4. Accepting and Understanding

**Chapter 4**

**Accepting and Understanding**

Rise did use the white board on some occasions, but there's something that's still bothering her: the trio of girls, Suki, Akira and Riri. What will they think? Sure they will tease her about having to write everything down if she wants to speak, but what else is she supposed to do? Perhaps she can somehow make these girls understand her condition and maybe take her seriously? No. That probably won't happen. Considering what they are treating her before, Rise doubts that they'll ever take her seriously. She decides not to show them the white board as soon as they show up in class and try a different approach.

It's noon and Rise is at her desk, taking the rest of the notes that the teacher had given for class. Once that's done, she packs up her stuff and hurries over to Nana's place to eat lunch with her. They had promised each other some time earlier this morning since Nana hasn't spent much time with Rise in a while. Once Rise arrives at Nana's room, she greets her by waving and sits down at a random desk.

"Good afternoon, Matsumoto," Nana says as she grabs her own lunch and proceeds to sit nests to her partner. She takes notice of a white board beside Rise. "Oh? Why do you have that white board over there?"

Rise takes it and writes, **"It' my new tool."**

"Ah, I see," Nana says, smiling. "Since you have a hard time communicating with others, you have this white board that you can write on. That's a good idea."

**"Thanks, but thank the student council. They were the ones who came up with it," **Rise writes.

"Well, I shall thank them as well," Nana says, smiling.

The two continue to eat in silence until a half hour has passed. Rise is just about to pack up her stuff when Nana stops her.

"Wait," she says.

Rise turns around, blushing from the touch and whispers.

"Um, why don't you stay a bit longer?" Nana suggests. "Besides, lunchtime isn't over for another 15 minutes."

Rise nods and comes over next to Nana. The older woman smiles and suddenly starts to pick up Rise.

"Here, is this more comfortable?" She places Rise on her lap, which makes the dark-haired girl blush.

Rise whispers.

"Aw, don't be shy," Nana says. "And I know I'm treating you like a child, but you can be so adorable that I couldn't help it."

Rise whispers again while blushing.

"Oh, yes you are adorable," Nana protests, giggling. She takes a few strands of her hair. "Even you have such cute hair."

Frowning, Rise gently pushes Nana's hand away.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Rise whispers again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I got too carried away there." She sets Rise down next to her and the two stay silent for about 3 minutes until Nana speaks up.

"You know, those girls . . . how long have they been treating you badly?"

Rise whispers as she looks down at the ground.

"Ah, about a couple days after the first day," Nana says. "I see. I can understand why they would want to tease and bully you in the first place. It's because you can't speak and they just don't see how serious it really is."

Rise nods as she whispers again.

"I know. It's hard on me, too . . . seeing you like this. But . . . sometimes life isn't what you can expect. And you probably didn't expect to have this condition years ago, didn't you?"

Rise shakes her head and hangs it down. Nana could see that she's about to cry, but Rise quickly shakes it off and looks up at the older woman.

"It's alright," Nana assures her. "I'm right here whenever you need me. After all, we're partners, right?"

Rise nods and whispers.

"You're welcome, Matsumoto."

At that moment, Rise wraps her arms around Nana while resting her head on her chest. Nana smiles as she strokes her hair.

"Heh, I could be like a mother to you," Nana says. "I mean, I could have you as my own daughter if you want to. Then, you won't have to be alone anymore. We could always live together, you know?"

Rise thinks about it for a moment as she looks down at the floor while blushing.

"I'll let you think about it," Nana says. "It seems that I just threw that at you without thinking about the consequences."

Rise whispers as she looks up at the older woman. Nana stares back while blushing herself.

"Um . . . Matsumoto?"

Rise continues to gaze at Nana and as if a demon is possessing her, she starts to lean in while closing her eyes. Nana's eyes widen for a second before starting to return the favor. But just as they are about to do it, the bell rings, making them pull away. Rise quickly turns and grabs her bag. Before heading out, Rise looks back at Nana, who is in deep shock as well. Rise glances at the floor for a bit before running off to her next class. While walking, she could feel herself blush furiously at what she just did a second ago. She is about to . . . kiss her! She had never done anything like that before. But on the other hand . . . it seemed that she really wanted to do it. Rise truly has feelings for Nana after all and probably Nana knows it as well, though Nana calls it a "forbidden relationship". She stops and slowly raises her hand to touch her lip. She wishes she could feel Nana's lips a bit sooner.

As for Nana, she just smiles as she raises her hand to touch her own lips. "Well, Matsumoto. You sure know how to be romantic, aren't ya?" With that, she goes back to her desk to do some paper work.

* * *

><p>Finally, when the school day ends, Rise is walking home by herself again. Nana had another meeting to go to unfortunately, so Rise had no choice but to walk home. But as Rise is about to leave the school, Suki and the other girls appear and smirk.<p>

"Here she goes again," Suki says to her friends.

"How pathetic," Akira says. "A girl who can't even speak a word? That's sad."

"Really sad," Riri agrees.

Rise ignores them as she keeps on walking. Suki notices the white board in her hand and quickly snatches it.

"What's this?" the blonde scoffs as she waves it. "Some kind of kiddie drawing board?"

Rise shakes her head roughly as she tries to reach for the board. Suki holds it up high and laughs as Rise helpless tries to take it.

"Forget it, Matsumoto," Suki says. "Even if you have this, you still wouldn't be able to communicate. You might lose it anyways. Oh, wait!" She breaks the board in half by smashing it with her knee. "You already did!"

Rise gasps softly as she stares at her now broken tool and looks up at the trio. She shakes her head and whispers.

"We still can't hear you," Suki says as she turns to her friends. "Come on, girls. Our work here is done."

Suki throws the broken board in the trash and the girls purposely bump their shoulders on Rise as they take their leave. Rise just stares at the broken board in the trash as she sinks down to her knees. The one and only chance of communicating had been thrown away. Now how will she find a way to communicate? If she ever gets a writing tool again, the girls would just throw it away again. Rise felt like the world is being too cruel to her since she has this condition and is really angry and frustrated right now.

She has no choice but to leave the school without the board today. Once she walks out of the school, Suki's words still play in Rise's head.

"_Even if you have a white board, you still wouldn't be able to communicate."_

The incident where they were kicking her like crazy plays in her head as well.

"_You can't even call for help. What a useless human being."_

Rise is probably wondering why she's been nominated for Student Council President anyway. How can she president with a condition like this? Sure some of her friends try to support her the best they could in the student council, but for other people, how can they accept it? How can she accept herself? These questions flow through her head like a river, which even makes her even more frustrated. All she wanted was to be understood and accepted because of her condition. But all she's getting from other people besides her friends are rudeness and bullying.

Rise stops for a moment as she looks down at the ground, feeling tears trying to force their way out. She wanted to make other friends and yet they still don't understand her. And thinking about it makes her very sad and lonely. She whispers loudly as tears begin to fall. Now if Nana were here, she would probably say, "Matsumoto is saying 'Why doesn't some people understand me!?'" Rise raises her hand to wipe the tears, but they just keep coming. She's been holding in all her feelings that she couldn't hold it in anymore. All those times of the girls bullying and picking on her were just torture. And she had enough of it.

Rise continues to cry as she sinks down to her knees and let the tears fall. For the first time in her life, she is openly crying. She had never cried in front of anyone, not even Nana. She had been keeping her feelings held back because of the intense torment she's been hit with by the girls and now she's really crying. Even worse, Nana isn't even there to comfort her this time, which makes her even more sad.

"Are you okay?" a soft spoken voice asks.

Rise looks up to see a beautiful woman with long blonde hair blonde hair that reaches down her waist with a side bang covering her left eye. She is wearing a blue dress with brown boots and a gray hat. Looking down at the little girl, the young woman leans down to Rise's level and looks at her in concern.

"I said are you okay?" she asks again.

Rise only nods as she stands up. She had never seen a woman in her neighborhood before.

"You looked really sad over there," the blonde woman says. "Is there something wrong?"

Now, in Rise's case, she will have a hard time communicating with her since she can't speak that loudly. She looks down at the ground while fidgeting with her fingers.

"Can you speak?"

Rise shakes her head and whispers.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you," the woman says, gently.

And that hits her like a brick. With no writing tools around, she's practically humiliating herself in front of this kind woman. Suddenly, an idea pops in Rise's head. She decides to do a little Charade like communication to the woman since that's all she can do. She pantomimes writing on a notebook to the woman.

This time, the young woman understood. "Oh, sure. I can get you one." She grabs a small notebook and pen and hands it to Rise.

Rise writes down, **"I can't speak. Having throat problems."**

"Oh, I see," the young woman says. "I'm so sorry. How did it happen? Are you sick or something?"

Rise writes, **"Something like that, yes. It's sort of difficult to explain."**

"I understand. Well, I hope you throat feels better. I have to get going. I'll see you later." With that , the young woman walks past Rise with a smile on her face.

Rise turns back to the woman and watches her leave, with her blonde hair swaying in the wind. A small smile creeps on her face. She wanted to see that woman again someday.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry it too so darn long to update. For starters, I had major writer's block. Second, I was writing some other stories for the time being. So, here's another chapter for you guys. **

**I'm so glad that you guys enjoyed the story so far. And I agree with some of you. I'm very surprised that there are no stories about Rise and Nana and they really do make cute couple. I just wish some people would write about Rise just so that I could get an idea of how to write Rise's way of speaking. But, oh well.**

**Feel free to give out any suggestions, questions, or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)**


	5. Her Twin?

**Chapter 5**

**Her . . . Twin?**

Rise sits alone at the student council room one afternoon, working on filling out some documents. From what she saw yesterday made her heart flutter. She had never seen such a kind and gentle woman like that before. And she was even willing to comfort her a bit when Rise was crying. It's been about a week since she saw that woman and wishes she could just see her once more. Just then, there is a knock on the door, which makes Rise look up.

"Hey, it's me, Ayano," the voice says from behind the door. It opens and out comes the purple haired girl with her friend, Chitose. Hi, President. Sorry for bothering you, but we kind of need your help."

Rise whispers as she stands up.

"Oh, come with us," Chitose says. "We'll explain on the way."

Rise nods as she follows her two members.

"So, we need your opinion on where we should put our banner for the special event coming up in 3 weeks," Chitose explains. "Unfortunately, Furutani-san and Ohmuro-san were arguing too much and just quit. That's why we needed your help."

Rise nods. As soon as they get outside, they find the banner lying flat on the ground next to the entrance with two ladders next to it. Rise examines it for a bit, turns to Ayano and whispers to her.

"Um . . ." Ayano says.

"President says that it should be just fine hanging it on the entrance so that every student will know about it," Chitose explains.

"Oh, I see. Well then, thanks for your help, President." She and Chitose help each other hang up the banner.

The three then back up and check to make sure it's balanced and even. Rise whispers her approval.

"I'm glad!" Chitose says.

"My, what the heck is this?" a snotty voice says from the distance. Rise turns and notices Suki and her friends walking over to the banner. "That banner looks hideous! It's colored purple with yellow letters, really? It's way too ordinary!"

Ayano frowns. "Who asking for your opinion, lady?"

"You're holding a festival with a banner like that?" Suki says, pointing at it. "No one would want to see that banner that looked like toddlers spattered it with paint."

"You should get rid of it," Riri adds.

"Even we can do better than that," Akira says.

Rise glares at them. How dare they express a harsh opinion on their hard work?

Chitose then steps in. "Well, to us, it looks good. Please know that all of us student council members worked hard on this banner."

"Student council, huh?" Suki says. "Who's running it? You are?" She turns to Ayano.

"Um, no that would be her," Ayano says.

Suki frowns as she puts a hand on her hip. "Oh, the quiet girl? You mean, you have that silent dolt as Student Council President? That's lame."

"Why?" Ayano asks.

"You fool!" Suki says as she points at Rise. "How can you girls have this girl be president? She is too quiet, cannot be understood at all and just wears this expressionless look on her face!" She walks up to Ayano and pokes her chest hard. "I say get rid of her. She's not worth being president if you're gonna have her like this."

"Hey, take it easy," Ayano says, gently pushing her away.

"Don't push me!" Suki shoves Ayano hard until she bumps into a wall.

"Matsumoto doesn't deserve to be president!" Akira says.

"Make her go away and find another president who can be fully understood!" Riri adds.

"No, we can't!" Chitose pleads. "Rise-chan is a good president, believe me. I know she has this condition, but we still love her! Please, don't think badly of Rise-chan!"

"Oh, yeah?" Suki says, stomping over to Chitose. "What makes you think she got nominated anyway? How can anyone vote for this silent girl? Something's definitely wrong here, don't you think?"

Rise feels startled and hurt by this. From what these girls are saying, she felt that she can no longer be part of it.

"Hey!" Ayano says. "Who do you think you are anyway!? You have no right to tell us what to do just because Rise-san cannot speak!"

"Oh, yeah," the blonde says, flipping her hair. "I'm Suki Kawasaki and these two are Akira Watsuki and Riri Satsuki."

"Well, Suki," Ayano says, stepping up to the blonde and pokes her chest back. "You know what? We can do whatever the heck we want. Rise-san may be a silent girl, but she's still a person with feelings. And you're hurting her right now as far as I can tell."

"And you don't know anything about her," Chitose agrees. "Judging a person like her like that is just cruel."

"Yeah, whatever," Suki says. She notices Rise close to tears, though she's still wearing a stoic expression. "Oh, look. She's gonna cry. How sad."

"Are you gonna cry to your mommy?" Riri teases. "Oh, wait. You don't have one, do you?"

"Or a father," Akira adds. "She's just a stinking orphan who lives alone at a house, right?"

Ayano and Chitose gasp and turn to Rise, who is trembling in fear.

"What are you taking about?" Ayano asks, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Suki says. "Matsumoto's parents got fed up with her because she can't speak. They had tried everything they could to cure her, but nothing worked."

"You mean, she wasn't like this from the start?" Chitose asks.

"Heck no!" Riri says. "All we know is that half of her vocal cords were severely damaged."

"And why do we know this?" Suki says. "We've heard stories from that teacher of hers."

"You mean, Nishigaki-sensei?" Ayano asks.

"Mm-hmm," Suki says. "It seems that Matsumoto wanted to keep this a secret for some reason, which I don't know why she wants to do that. But what we do know is that Matsumoto is just a fool who has a hard time communicating with other people because of this condition."

"Then, why do you three bully her so much?" a voice calls from behind Suki.

All of the girls look to see a young woman with long blonde hair with a side bang that covers her left eye walking up to them.

"Who are you?" Suki asks.

"I'm Nina Nishigaki," the young woman says. "I'm Nana's twin sister."

"TWIN!?" Ayano and Chitose shout in unison.

The young woman walks up to Rise, who is close to crying and wraps her arms around her. The raven-haired girl wanted to cry even more for seeing this woman again. It's the same exact person that she saw a week ago. Nina turns to the girls and glares at them.

"You three should be ashamed of yourselves for treating this poor girl like that," she says. "She doesn't deserve this kind of treatment. Her two friends love her no matter what condition she's in."

Suki just backs away and bows. "Sorry. Please forgive us. Come on, girls."

The three quickly leave. Nina turns to Rise and gently puts her hand on her shoulders. "Are you alright? Don't worry about them. They're just mean."

Rise whispers loudly and plunges into Nina's chest, sobbing.

"What's the matter?" Nina asks.

"She's just glad to see you again," Chitose says. "It seems that you've met her before and wanted to see you again."

"But how in the world . . . can you understand her?" Nina says. "I mean, if half of her vocal cords were damaged, making her speak like this, how can people understand her?"

"It's quiet hard to explain actually," a familiar voice says.

Nina looks up to see Nana standing by the doorway with a smile on her face. "Sis! You are here!"

"Hey, there, younger sis," Nana says. "Long time no see." She gives her younger sister a hug.

"Yes! Like a couple of months," Nina says.

"So, let me get this straight," Ayano says. "You two are twins?"

"We sure are," Nana replies. "We get along very well with each other, but we have different interests. Nina happens to be a novelist for the time being, right?"

"Yes," Nina says. "I'm just visiting to get some inspiration on my new novel to write. And it looks like I came to the right place." She turns to Ayano and Chitose. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot both of your names."

"My name is Ayano Sugiura," the purple haired girl says.

"And my name is Chitose Ikeda," the silver haired girl says.

"It's nice to meet you two," Nina says, bowing before them.

"Hey, since we're all here, why don't we come to the classroom to have a chat?" Nana suggests.

"That's a great idea," Chitose says.

"Good, then let's go."

All of them enter the building and into Nana's classroom and lock the door so that no one would barge in. Rise sits next to Nana while the others sit on random desks with Nina standing next to her sister.

"So, I'm just wondering," Nina says to her sister. "This girl, Rise Matsumoto . . . she cannot speak because half of her vocal cords are damaged. How did this happen?"

Nana just sighs. "It's a long, sad story. Besides, the reason why Matsumoto wanted to keep it a secret is because no one would understand. But you can, right?"

"I suppose," Nina says. "If your story gets my attention, maybe it will be a great inspiration to my next novel."

"We'll understand, too," Chitose says. "We have all the time in the world."

"So, please, Nishigaki-sensei," Ayano says. "We want to know how this all started and how Rise became like this."

Nana's expression becomes serious as she pulls up a tall chair in front of everyone. "Very well. I'll tell the story. But only if Matsumoto is willing for me to."

Rise nods as approval.

"Alright." Clearing her throat, Nana begins to tell the tale of how Rise Matsumoto became the person she is today with everyone's attention to her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the surprise, but it's going to be a long story, so I decided to split it into 2 chapters. It's gonna take some time to think of what incident Rise might be in or what causes her throat to get damaged so much, so bare with me okay? I'm sure all of you were waiting for this chapter, so here it is. Oh, and I apologize for bringing up those girls again. I just felt putting up a few hints for the next chapter and also to have my new character Nina to appear. **

**Feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)**


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